Leather Furniture Maintenance

Leather furniture is the most astonishing home as well as office furniture item because it enriches your room looks with an elegant appealing look. Leather is a sort of upholstery which grows and gets well with age but you need to maintain it properly. To well maintain leather furniture just like real leather beds, you need to follow some do and dons. Here, I have suggested some points that will elaborate you those dos and dons so that you may keep you investment well.

• First of all you must avoid harmless cleaners because they are injurious to the age of leather furniture. In place of these harsh cleaners you may choose mild household cleaning items like soaps and dishwashers. Applying and rubbing these mild household cleaners gently will remove all the stains and dust particles. Saddle soaps are forbidden to be used over leather furniture; they are good for catcher’s mitt only.
• Over use of soaps and detergents is crucially harmful to the leather furniture. No doubt casual leather furniture items, just like leather sofa beds, get stained and dirty too quickly but you cannot clean it with soap and detergent regularly. Leather items are not breathable like our skins so it cannot replace the oil mites that detergents washout. With the passage of time it will get dry and start tearing and cracking. You must apply oil after applying soaps because it will keep the furniture soft and fresh. Oil also repulses the stains and other dirt mites.
• Extreme environments can harm the leather furniture just similar to our skins. If it is too cold or too hot, your leather furniture will start getting dry and crack. So you must not place your leather furniture in direct sunlight for more than 5 minutes. Keep in mind that your furniture setting and placement in rooms must be in such a way that your leather items stay away from conditioners and radiators. Kitchen must be far away.
• If there are any sudden spills over your leather furniture, you must blot it quickly as soon as possible. Do not use hard rags and cloths for cleaning, instead use towels or tissue papers. If the spills are oily or greasy then sprinkle some baking powder or talcum powder over the affected area to absorb the spills. In these severe cases you may also use some leather cleaners from branded shops because they are guaranteed and work well.
• For your brand new leather furniture, you must apply a layer of leather protector over it because it saves your leather items a very longer period of time. Better option is to hire a professional to apply the protector because they may apply it in a fine way. But if you want to do it yourself then you may purchase manuals for it. You may also apply protector over older items. Clean the item properly before applying protector. To clean it you may use damp cloth or vacuum cleaner on occasional basis.

These are some of the simple tips that may lead your leather furniture to a well refined shape and make it live longer.

Cleaning Tips for Oil, Painted, Polished and Speciality Wood Pieces

Type of wood, polish and paint determines which type of cleaning the piece requires. Some wood pieces having light polish do not absorb oil while others like teak and rosewood have no finishing on their surface and require furniture oil once in a year. Understanding type of wood and its finish is extremely important when you have invested great amount on them, like a wooden bed, door or window frames. Maintaining them means they will last long adding up to your sweet memories.

Oiled Wood

Oiled wood pieces have a warm and soft appearance and are easily maintainable. They occasionally need furniture oil, for the rest of their lives they do great even if you do not give them a caring shot.

• Wood pieces with oil finish require only oil not wax. If you accidently wax them, it will clog in the pores of wood and the piece will dry out.
• Water marks can be cleaned with toothpaste, make sure you are not going to use a gel. Rub it gently onto the stains for some 3 to 5 minutes until the stains are no more there. Wipe away the toothpaste with a soft and clean cloth and check if the stains are still there. You can repeat the process for any leftover marks.
• Alternatively you can use a mixture of light abrasive and oil. Abrasives may include salt, soda, ash and appropriate oils are olive oil and cooking oil.

Painted Wood

Painted wood pieces require least cleaning since color and decoration can be damaged with polish and wax. If you love your pieces clean them less.

• Vacuum the painted piece regularly; use sponge to get rid of finger marks and smudges.
• If you see a dire need of wax, do it once a year with a hard paste wax only.

Polished Wood

Polished pieces have varnish or wax finishing. Different types of cleaners and conditioners are available in market to serve polished pieces. As a ground rule, for harder and long lasting finish use paste wax instead of liquid polish. Paste wax serves antiques best.

• Wear cotton gloves while waxing furniture and fingerprints will not left behind.
• Sprinkling cornstarch over recently polished furniture gives it an extra shine and gloss. Cornstarch will absorb extra oil or wax leaving behind a glossy surface free of fingerprints.
• Take about 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise and apply gently on the stains. Rub it with a soft white cotton cloth to let the effects reach into the surface, let it stay on the wood overnight while covering it with a cloth, bowl or aluminium foil to keep it from drying out and next morning simply wipe the mayonnaise

Specialty Wood

Pieces made up of specialty wood usually bear a natural finish but some of them may have varnish finish.

• Vacuum specialty wood pieces
• Rinse them occasionally with water so that fibers will not be damaged due to lack of moisture. Do not rinse rush chair seats as they are prone to damage.
• Moisture can tighten the cane seats. Spray water on unvarnished side and let it dry naturally.
• Water stains are no more to worry about. Now you are properly equipped with easy and economic tipsthat will help you a great deal in restoring the lost away charm and shine of your wooden bed.

Wood pieces are no more to worry about. A little care is enough to do great for them and now you are properly equipped with knowledge to restore the lost away charm and shine of your wood pieces.